Movie Review - Bluebird

Bluebird (2015)

Starring Amy Morton, John Slattery, Louisa Krause, Emily Meade, Margo Martindale, and Adam Driver

Directed by Lance Edmands

***This film is streaming on Netflix***

The first feature of director-screenwriter Lance Edmands, Bluebird shows hints of promise, but ultimately doesn't quite deliver despite an admirable effort on all fronts.  Heavy, dreary, yet captivating in its visual depictions of a black New England landscape, Bluebird captures the life of Lesley (Amy Morton), a Maine school bus driver, who makes a horrible inadvertent mistake one day that causes a young boy's life to hang in the balance.  Gripped by grief, Lesley's devastation affects both her husband (John Slattery) and daughter (Emily Meade) who are also forced to deal with the ramifications of Lesley's error.

The focus on Lesley's family and her emotional state carry Bluebird and are certainly the film's best aspects.  Unfortunately, the film also spends a great deal of time with Marla (Louisa Krause), the young early twentysomething mother of the boy in peril.  An unfit parent, the young child has been raised in part by Marla's aunt Crystal (Margo Martindale) who blames her niece more for her son's current state than bus driver Lesley.

As we watch Marla's struggle trying to suddenly become an adequate mother to her child, we find ourselves not caring nearly as much as when we spend time with Lesley.  Part of the problem is that Amy Morton is head over heels a better actress than Louisa Krause who, while not unwatchable, isn't enthralling in the slightest.  We palpably feel Lesley's grief thanks to Morton's solemn portrayal...the same cannot be said for Krause.

It also doesn't help that the screenplay decides to leave things hanging as the film comes to a close.  Rather than create a sense of intrigue as to how the lives of the film's characters will unfold, the abrupt conclusion left me ticked off which is never a good way to end things.  That said, Amy Morton's desolate and grim performance is almost reason enough to give this one a shot.

The RyMickey Rating:  C